Australia Celebrates Letter on 1962 Missal

November 02, 2007
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SYDNEY, Australia, NOV. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal George Pell will be the first archbishop in the Sydney Archdiocese in 40 years to celebrate the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, reports the Oriens Foundation.

The archbishop of Sydney will preside Saturday at a Mass said in the extraordinary form at St. Mary's Cathedral. The event is a celebration on the occasion of Benedict XVI's apostolic letter "Summorum Pontificum," published in July.

The letter, issued "motu proprio," on one's own initiative, explained new norms allowing for the use of the 1962 missal as an extraordinary form of the liturgical celebration. The norms took effect Sept. 14.

The Australia-based Oriens Foundation, which promotes understanding of the Tridentine rite, said in a press statement that the Mass "represents a significant event in the life of the local Church."

Gary Scarrabelotti, the Oriens Foundation chairman, said that he hopes that "Summorum Pontificum" will provide the Church "with a splendid opportunity to draw to the attention of the Catholic people, and to the wider community, the great cultural and spiritual merits of the traditional form of Catholic worship."